Second quarter GDP coincided with analysts’ predictions, showing that economic activity is gradually decreasing, from 7.7% in the first quarter. June industrial output also only increased nearly as much as forecast compared to the previous year.
Zhou Hao, an economist at Shanghai ANZ Bank, said: `These figures are not surprising. This is a sign that the pressure on China’s economic growth is increasing.`
China’s economic data is increasingly gloomy.
China’s new Prime Minister – Li Keqiang wants to promote economic reform instead of rapid growth.
China’s economic growth has declined continuously for 9 of the past 10 quarters.
Analysts also lowered their forecasts for the whole of 2013 in recent weeks after China released a series of weak figures and the Government also said growth was slowing.
Last week, data from the General Administration of Customs of China also showed that exports decreased by 3.1% and imports decreased by 0.7% in June. Meanwhile, according to forecasts, both figures will increase.
Other statistics show that the producer price index (PPI) at factories has decreased for 16 consecutive months.
Inflation in June also increased faster than expected at 2.7% over the same period.
The main concern of China’s leadership is whether the economic slowdown will lead to high unemployment and spark social unrest.
Therefore, economists say that currently, China will not have any stimulus packages or major policy changes.
Beijing is still having to deal with public debt of up to trillions of dollars of local governments, after a long period of `aggressive spending` during the 2008 financial crisis, and curb black credit.
`China will remain focused on reform,` said Xu Hongcai, senior economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a strategic think tank in Beijing.
Pham Ngoc Uyen (According to Reuters)
